Dental camera systems are used in dentistry for taking photographs of the mouth, in particular the inside of the mouth and the teeth arranged therein. The representations produced by this can be displayed on a display device by the treating doctor for the purpose of diagnosis or for discussing treatment options with the patient. Moreover, the doctor can input the representations for long-term archiving in order to document the treatment process. A dental camera which is used in such systems is disclosed for example in DE 10 2009 017 819 A1.
Dental camera systems are furthermore known, which present further diagnostic options over a conventional imaging function. For example, dental camera systems are known in which caries bacteria or fluorescence markers linked thereto are excited into fluorescence with the aid of an excitation light which is mostly in the UV range. By measuring the fluorescent light subsequently emitted, it is possible to show the location of existing caries, which enables treatment to preserve the dental substance.
As revealed in the above-mentioned DE 10 2009 017 819 A1, dental cameras with a high image quality in particular usually have complex optics with a plurality of lenses. Moreover, dental cameras of this type must have individual movable components, such as a displaceable lens or a displaceable image sensor, to enable the object distance to be adjustable during the imaging process on the image sensor. Another option for adjusting the object distance consists in using liquid lenses in which the curvature of a boundary layer between two liquids is altered, thereby altering the refractive power of the liquid lens.
These known dental cameras are disadvantageous in that the optics are complex and large, which means that the camera head which is to be inserted inside the mouth cannot be less than a certain minimum size. Moreover, for precise displacement of the movable components, it is necessary to use mechanically complex drives which require control electronics. A similar situation applies to liquid lenses, for which control electronics are likewise required.